how did president obama weighed down by a jobless rate higher than any incumbent seeking re-election since f.d.r. win 332 electoral votes, sweep eight of the nine battleground states, and even have his party pick up senate seats to get to 55? as the republican picks up the pieces and looks ahead to 2016, here are four lessons that 2016 hopefuls from both parties might want to keep in mind. lesson one, you don't define yourself, your opponent will do it for you. romney let the president's early attacks on his personal wealth and business background go largely unanswered. romney's campaign argued after a long, expensive primary they had to choose how to spend at the time what was limited funds and adds about what romney would do as president tested better they claim that bio-spots or defenses of his personal record. in the end obama beat romney by ten points. on the economic values question that was this, which candidate is more in touch with people like you. 53% said romney's policies would favor the rich. just 10% said that about the president's policies. romney, the first republican